German far-right attacks set for record, group says

BERLIN - A leading German anti-racist group said on Tuesday 2006 could see a post-war record for far-right attacks in the country, after police figures showed a rise in such violence earlier this year.

The head of the Central Council of Jews in Germany also called for strong measures against anti-Semitic crimes, which anti-racist group Gesicht Zeigen (Show Face) said had been particularly prevalent during the June-July soccer World Cup in Germany.

Figures from Germany's BKA federal police, released earlier this month, showed attacks by far-right groups rose 20 per cent to 8000 assaults in the first eight months of 2006 compared to the same period last year.

Gesicht Zeigen counted more than 1000 incidents of an anti-Semitic nature in both June and July, Heye said.

The German government said the recent rise in anti-Semitic violence was worrying and emphasised the need for "strong action".

In July, far-rightists in the eastern state of Saxony-Anhalt burned the diary of Holocaust victim Anne Frank, causing outrage among German politicians and anti-racist groups.

In another incident only two weeks ago, teenagers in the same state forced a 16-year-old classmate to parade around school wearing a sign with an anti-Semitic Nazi-era slogan.

The German government plans to set aside € 24 million ($46 million) next year for projects enhancing tolerance and diversity, but has also cut funding for several existing programmes on combating racist attacks.

In September, the National Democratic Party (NPD), a far-right group the government has compared to Hitler's Nazis, won 7.3 per cent of the vote in the eastern state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, claiming six seats in the 71-east regional parliament.

- REUTERS